Along with strolling through Graffiti Alley, Brit’s other request for her birthday getaway weekend was to visit Ripley’s Aquarium in downtown Toronto. The aquarium was a great addition to the tourist scene in Toronto, and after visiting, I would highly recommend you see it at least once.

For my friend Brit’s 30th birthday, she wanted to celebrate with a girls’ weekend trip to Toronto. It ended up being a pretty chill weekend, complete with two sight-seeing adventures, a shopping trip to the Eaton centre, and a birthday night out at a bar!

Every once in awhile, you hit upon an idea for the perfect birthday present for someone and it feels like you just struck gold. This was definitely the case when my sister and I brainstormed for the perfect gift for our mom on a very special birthday (I’m about 99.9999% sure she wouldn’t want me to mention her age here, so… you’re welcome, Mom!) – a surprise family birthday party weekend that included a tour of her favourite wine company – Jackson-Triggs!

What to do as a Harry Potter fan who lives in Ontario, Canada, far away from either the Universal Parks or the Studio Tour? Attend Ontario-based festivals and performances! Once again, I got the opportunity to explore another way to celebrate my love of Harry Potter – this time by attending two Ontario-based festivals and a two-man skit performance. I have to confess the festivals didn’t live up to my expectations, but there were still aspects that were enjoyable. On the plus side? The two-man performance honestly blew me away. With that mildly optimistic and positive introduction, let’s get to it!

With warmer weather fast approaching, I’m eager to venture outside and explore some of the national parks Canada has to offer. This year is a great time to do it, as they’ve released the national parks pass for free in celebration of Canada’s 150th! I don’t have the opportunity to visit nearly as many parks and historic sites as I’d like to this year, but it did get me thinking about my dream destinations list.